Final Score: Halifax Wanderers FC 0-3 Cavalry FC |
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Match in a minute or less
A scrappy first half turned into an attacking onslaught from the defending champions on Saturday at the Wanderers Grounds, as Cavalry FC raced past Halifax 3-0 for a second straight road win.
The Cavs got on the board just moments before halftime via the foot of Tobias Warschewski, who scored a penalty kick won by Ali Musse.
In the second half, Halifax pushed forward in search of an equalizer, and they generated a handful of chances in front of the Kitchen, but Cavalry were lethal in transition and punished the Wanderers twice in the last few minutes of the match -- both goals scored by Musse -- and the Alberta side will head home with all three points.
Three Observations
Stars come alive for Cavalry as Musse, Warschewski deliver in key moments
When one thinks of Cavalry, they're sure to think of the club's marquee attacking stars, who have produced so many outstanding moments for the club over the past couple of years. The list starts with Tobias Warschewski, last year's Golden Boot winner who seemingly hasn't stopped scoring since around September of last year; he added his fourth in six matches (all competitions) on Saturday.
The one who had been a little quieter to begin this campaign, however, was Ali Musse. The former CPL Players' Player of the Year hadn't scored yet in the 2025 CPL season, though he did find the net against League1 Alberta side Edmonton Scottish in the Canadian Championship.
However, Musse seemed to have found his groove once again on Saturday, repeatedly making runs behind the Halifax defence and getting into dangerous areas. He was rewarded for his work, winning the penalty just before halftime and then sealing the victory with two goals in short succession late in the match.
Musse had eight touches in the Halifax penalty area, his highest total of the season so far; he won the ball three times in the final third, and had three shots of his own -- all of them on target, two of them going in the net.
Warschewski was his usual mercurial self as well, repeatedly taking on defenders and driving toward the box. He's incredibly difficult to stop once he picks up the ball and starts moving toward goal, and he covered so much ground in this match, winning a team-high 12 duels. He does a lot of defensive work for Cavalry with his running and willingness to challenge defenders, leading the defensive effort from the front.
Now that it looks like the Musse and Warschewski combination is back up to full speed, defending against Cavalry is a scary proposition for any CPL team.
Wanderers add bite in midfield but leave themselves exposed at the back
Ahead of this match, Halifax coach Patrice Gheisar said that one of the keys to playing against Cavalry is matching their energy. So, he chose to freshen up his starting lineup after a difficult game in Hamilton just a few days prior; Giorgio Probo, Lorenzo Callegari and Adam Pearlman all dropped to the bench for the first time in 2025, as did Sean Rea, who has been one of the Wanderers' best attacking threats this year.
Perhaps expecting this to be a game where Cavalry had more of the ball, Gheisar put club captain Andre Rampersad in midfield. The veteran Rampersad offers a very different profile to Callegari, being more of a box-to-box midfielder who can win the ball back and disrupt the opponent's momentum rather than picking out passes across the pitch.
With Rampersad playing alongside Isaiah Johnston, the Cavs found it difficult to build up through the middle. Cavalry's depth has been tested in midfield, with 21-year-old Max Piepgrass getting the nod alongside Shamit Shome amid injuries to Michael Baldisimo, Diego Gutiérrez and Jesse Daley. So, Halifax opted to try and take control of the middle against a Cavalry double pivot who haven't played together much.
For large swathes of the match, it seemed to be working to an extent; the Wanderers were winning a lot of balls (Rampersad especially), and they were generally in control of the middle of the pitch.
However, Cavalry found a way to counteract that by playing a more direct game, fuelled by the individual workrates of Warschewski and Musse. A speculative long ball forward was what led to the penalty in the first half, and after that the opportunities only grew.
Halifax began pushing further and further forward in the second half as they chased a goal, which opened up more space behind them for Musse to run into.
It seemed that the Wanderers began to tire late in the game, expending so much energy to make tackles and win balls throughout the game that they became sloppy in the final 15 minutes. Both of the Cavs' late goals came in quick transitions sprung by errors, at a point in the match where Halifax weren't able to keep up with the counter-attacking tempo.
Wanderers defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère did not mince his words after the game, admitting that he felt embarrassed to lose 3-0 at home, although Gheisar felt the score didn't quite tell the full story. He felt Halifax had been on level footing with Cavalry for at least 80 minutes, and in fairness they did have a number of chances -- including two shots off the woodwork -- but they've now been shut out in back to back home games.
Cavalry youngsters Gherasimencov, Piepgrass make impact in tough game
This was not the easiest match for a young player to come into, given its physical nature and the tough conditions of a wet and windy Wanderers Grounds.
However, Cavalry boss Tommy Wheeldon Jr. made a big call on Saturday by starting 21-year-old Max Piepgrass and 20-year-old Mihail Gherasimencov, both of them for their first ever CPL start for the club.
Piepgrass was an expected inclusion; with so many injuries in midfield, especially the most recent one to Michael Baldisimo, Wheeldon Jr. hinted midweek that Piepgrass might be next in line to start next to Shome. He has been working his way toward the starting XI for a few weeks now, scoring in Cavalry's Canadian Championship clash against Edmonton Scottish and playing most of the game against York last Friday after coming on for Baldisimo in the first half.
Gherasimencov's nod was more of a surprise, given that Cavalry have several options for the left wing spot -- notably Jay Herdman and Nicolas Wähling. However, with Caniggia Elva injured, Wheeldon Jr. turned to the young Gherasimencov who had 69 CPL minutes under his belt before Saturday.
Both players did very well for the Cavs on Saturday. Piepgrass made four interceptions and had an 82.4 per cent passing accuracy, looking comfortable next to Shome and finding the right spaces to receive the ball from Callum Montgomery or Tom Field. He did have some trouble at times with the physical challenges of Rampersad and Johnston, but he held his own well.
Meanwhile, Gherasimencov was a fierce threat on the wing, winning eight duels and five tackles. As a natural fullback, he's well equipped for Cavalry's preferred style of defending from the front. The Moldova-born youngster on loan from the Vancouver Whitecaps has fit well into Cavalry's high-energy identity, and he helped run down a fatigued Wanderers side on Saturday.
Piepgrass is a player on a U SPORTS contract who has been part of Cavalry's system as a development player for several years now; he made his debut with the club in 2021 but this was just his sixth appearance. Now, he seems to finally have earned himself more regular minutes with the first team by impressing the coaching staff.
Having these kinds of contributions from young players will be a major boon to Cavalry given their injury issues at the moment.
What They Said
“As you start to build momentum, all the teams are going to give you everything they've got. We cannot perform the same and expect the results to continue, we've got to get better every game, and we will; I have no doubt in my mind, I'm supportive of the group. I don't think the score really indicates the true story of the game, but no matter what the score is, I stand by the group and we'll bounce back.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar
"When they score before half, it's our job to come back stronger. I think we did, in the second half we were very good; we hit the crossbar, we had some chances. And we conceded, I don't want to say s--- second goal, but it's kind of s---. So now coming back from that we tried, and they were sitting 11 guys in their box, which is what they had to do to win, and they did it well. They caught us in transition. It's hard; it's embarrassing to lose 3-0 at home." -- Halifax Wanderers defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère
“The first half was a good boxing match: they had a bit, we had a bit, they had a bit, we had a bit. ... It was a fairly even game, I think we created a little bit more but we just wanted better quality. A goal changes the game, and that's what happened; they came out chasing it, they took a little more risk and left a few more gaps, so we're able to play like that, especially when you're the away team. We've had it done to us at our place by Ottawa; sometimes you have to be the antagonist, and I thought it was surgical performance from the lads.” — Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Tobias Warschewski, Cavalry FC
While Musse did score two goals, Warschewski was outstanding through the entire match. The German forward scored the penalty that stood as the winner, and rampaged through midfield to set up the second goal. He had four shots and created three chances, winning a team-high 12 duels while also drawing four fouls.
What’s next?
Both sides are back in action next Saturday, May 17. Cavalry will return to Alberta to host Pacific FC (3:30 p.m. MT/5:30 p.m. ET), while Halifax will head west to take on Vancouver FC (5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET).
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